The paroled killer federal authorities suspect is the Hat Bandit blamed for a string of New Jersey bank heists pleaded not guilty to a robbery charge during his arraignment in federal district court in Newark this morning.

James Madison, 50, of Maplewood, entered his plea during a brief appearance before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares. Madison, who sported a shaved head and entered the courtroom wearing wrist and ankle shackles, did not speak during the brief hearing.

Donald McCauley, the assistant federal public defender representing Madison, declined to comment after the hearing, as did Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Chen.

A federal grand jury charged Madison with robbing a Bank of America branch in Union Township in a single-count indictment last week. However, the FBI has identified him as the prime suspect in 17 other heists in which the robber wore a hat to conceal his identity and the investigation continues.

Madison, who was on parole for the 1986 killing of his ex-girlfriend at the time of his arrest, is being held without bail in Passaic County Jail in Paterson.

In Custody: Delaware State Police said they arrested a Mercer County man who fled to Italy shortly before being labeled a "person of interest" in the disappearance of his girlfriend and the abandonment of the couple's 11-month-old baby.

Rosario DiGirolamo, 32, of Millstone, turned himself into Delaware State Police about 9:30 a.m. DiGirolamo, accompanied by his attorney, was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and child abandonment.

The child, Michael Digirolamo, was found outside a Newark, Del., hospital on June 9. His mother, Amy Giordano, 27, of Hightstown, was last seen June 8. It took nearly a week for authorities to identify the baby. By then, Rosario Digirolamo had flown from Newark Liberty International Airport to Milan, Italy, according to prosecutors.

Digirolamo made a cell phone call that utilized a signal tower near the Deleware hospital day the child was abandoned, police said.

For sale?: The New York Yankees' cable network, the YES Network, is for sale and some baseball insiders and Yankees limited partners are wondering whether the team itself might be next, according to a report by Fortune magazine.

The highest-rated regional sports network in the country and the cable home of the Yankees and the NBA New Jersey Nets, YES is jointly owned by the Yankees, investment bank Goldman Sachs, and former New Jersey Nets owner Ray Chambers. Goldman and Chambers would like to cash out, YES and Yankees insiders say, and one source says to expect a deal by summer's end. Some possible bidders: Cablevision, Comcast, News Corp. and Verizon.

This picture provided by the company One2believe shows their action figure toy of Jesus.

Biblical toys: At Wal-Mart, shoppers can buy a G.I. Joe action figure complete with a laser cannon, firestorm blaster, pulse missiles, flame blaster, flame projectile and a power-cutter saw. Beginning next month in some stores, they also can purchase a 12-inch talking Jesus doll that quotes Bible verses.

Yes, Wal-Mart is selling biblical action figures. They include a praying Daniel and what appears to be a smiling lion, and Jonah with a big fish, also smiling.

-- Greg Saitz

Hot tickets: Late ordering your tickets for Rutgers' home football opener against Buffalo? Don't bother. Navy? Not a chance. West Virginia? Keep dreaming.

- The state attorney general's investigation into the Somerset County Park Commission is far wider than was initially acknowledged and includes all minutes, documents and contracts relating to park businesses going back to at least 1999.

- Gov. Jon Corzine moved Wednesday to expand Internet safety programs in New Jersey, prompting praise from experts who said the initiative was overdue in an era of nearly universal Web access.

- A Brick Township man was charged with trying to hire someone to break his business partner's legs for $2,000, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press.

- A Boonton Township woman was charged with filing a false report after she dropped off her two rottweilers at police headquarters, claiming to have found them abandoned, according to a report in the Morristown Daily Record.

- How serious is Belmar about cracking down on noise after dark? Just ask Joseph Palermo, who was fined $572 for letting a woman ring the bell on his bicycle, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press.

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